Flexible panel joining means



10, 1963 G.F.RE1TME1ER 3,103,050 f FLEXIBLE PANEL JoINING MEANS FiledApril 14. 1961 M ii "l l2 /2 is i IN VEN TOR.

@u @w @gc/yd @M United States Patent O 3,1%,050 FLEXIBLE PANEL J OllNlNGMEANS George F. Reitmeier, East Aurora, N.Y., assigner to Bix-clairStructures, Inc., lualo, N.Y. Filed Apr. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 162,991 3Claims. (rCl. Zit-203) This invention relates to joining means for.flexible panels subjected to tension and pertains more particularly ktomeans yfor quickly attaching and detaching flexible panels such as arelused in fabric building structures such as air-inflated structures,`tent-like structures and the like. The use of fabric buildingstructures is becoming more and morepronounced. For example, in militaryelds, such structures find frequent application by reason of the factthat a rela-tively large structure may be erected in a relatively shortperiod of time, the components thereofbeing subject to easy storage andbeing characterized by compactness so as to be readily transportable.Such structuresrnay be in the form of relatively large panels offlexible, substantial-ly impervious material which will ultimately bejoined together to provide `a skin or enclosure which is `characterizedby 4tensioning `of the fabric or tlexible material to rigidify the sameand render it load-sustaining. It is to be understood that the presentinvention is not limited to any specic type `of fabric structurealthough the invention is admirably suited for association with `fabricstructures of the air-inflated type.

Having the above in mind, it will be readily `apparent that one of theadvantages of fabric structures is their ability to be rather rapidlyerected and it is to this end that the present invention is directed.That is to say, it is of primary concern in connection with the presentinvention to provide an improved and novel fastening means for joiningthe adjacent panels or sections of a fabric ,structure together and todo so in such fashion that the exible `material or sections will beefficiently joined so as to permit uniform distribution of tension loadsbetween adjacent panels or sections of the structure Without imposinglocalized stress concentrations in the sections or panels such as wouldtend to occasion their ultimate damage or destruction.

The present invention constitutes au improvement in such fastening meansas are disclosed in application Serial No. 739,022, filed June 2, 1958,and the present invention seeks to provide an limproved panel or sectionjoining means which is characterized by the rapidity of its attachmentor detachment so as to increase the overall eiiciency of tensionedfabric, load-sustaining structures and to render the same more readilyadaptable -for use in many applications.

A furthe-r object of the present invention resides in the provision ofan improved joining means rfor adjacent section-s of a tensioned-fabric,load-sustaining structure wherein in addition to permitting of quickattachment and detachment of such sections, the same will render theinitial cost of the structure of a more economical nature.

More specifically, it is an lobject of the present invention to providean improved form of section or panel attaching means particularly asadapted for joining adjacent sections subjected lto tension loadswherein the adjacent sections `are characterized by having a series ofspaced loops :formed along their edges to be joined wherein the loopsare of substantially the same width as the spacing between adjacentloops and wherein the loops carry peg means which project from oppositesides thereof so that the panels to be joined may be interlaced byinterdigitation of the pegs of one panel with the pegs of an adjacentpanel to form thereby a continuous, but quickly detachable seam fortransferring the tension loads between the panels or sections thusjoined.

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For a better understanding of this and other objects of the invention,reference -is made to the following specifications and accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIG. l is a sectional view showing a porti-on of an edge of a flexiblepanel constructed in accordance With the present invention andillustrating the means by which two adjacent such panels may be joined;

FIG. 2 is a view showing the manner in which a pair of pane-ls may beinterlaced or joined;

FiG. 3 is a plan view showing portions of a pair of adjacent panelswhich have been joined and are ready for erection; and

FiG. 4 is an enlarged section-al view taken substantially along theplane of section line 4--4 in FIG. 3 and illustrating means by which aseal may be accomplished across the seam ior joint.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, the reference character 10therein designates generally a flexible panel or section of atensioned-fabric, load-sustaining structure which is in the form of abody or panel of substantially impervious and flexible material 12 andwhich forms a por-tion of a load-sustaining fabric structure. Referencecharacter 14 designates an edge portion of the panel 1t? which isdesired to be joined to an adjacent panel similarly formed. This edgeportion is formed with a series of loops 16 `and intervening notches 18wherein the width of the notches 18 is Iat least equal to the width ofthe loops 16 to permit interdigitation of the loops of adjacent panelssuch as are `designated generally as reference characters 2iB-22 in FIG.3.

Loop 16 carries a peg or pin 24 which has opposite end portions 26 and28 projecting -laterally from the opposite ends of the respective loops16 to terminate Vshort of the corresponding adjacent ends of the nextsequential pegs. These pegs 24 may be secured with-in the loops by anysuitable means `as for example by staples 30 which serve only thepurpose of retaining the pegs within the loops to prevent los-s of thepegs. Preferably, such securing means are in the `form of some mechanismwhich is easily removable so as to permit -field replacement of pegsshould they become damaged or broken.

The manner of assembly of the joint is illustrated in FIG. 2 wherein itwill be readily appreciated that the construction lends itself readilyto the lacing together of the panels 20 and 22 generally in the fashionindicated therein. That is to say, the end 32 of the next peg to bejoined is placed `behind the end 34 of the :last peg joined and then theother end 36 of this peg is then swung up into position so as tointerlace behind the end 38 of the next pcg and so on until `the jointis completed. lIt will be appreciated also that the loops 16, since theyare relatively short, even though -they are rigidiiied by theirassociate pegs 34, do not constitute la lgreat. distraction from theflexibility of the individual panels or sections and present no problemin the folding and storing of these individual sections. At the sametime there is no necessity for any separate mechanism, physicallyremovable from the panels, to provide the requisite joint, and for thisreason alone the present mode of construction is readily adaptable `forquick assembly as has been described.

A completed joint portion is shown in FIG. 3 and a section therethroughis illustrated in FIG. 4. It will be appreciated that FIG. 4, insofar asthe construction of the panels 20 and 22 lare concerned, is largelydiagrammatic and purely illustrative and is not intended to show thespecific details or their individual constructions other than to showthe retention of the pegs 24. In accordance with the copendingapplication previously mentioned, the marginal edge portions 14 of thepanels, see FIG. 1, are so constructed as to quickly dissipate thelocalized tension loads imposed on the separate loops into uniformlydistributed stress loads in the -fabric or material of the panellongitudinally along the seam, thus obviating localized stressconcentrations in the panels or sections such as would tend to destroythem. In regard to this, it may be noted that actual structuresutilizingy this type of joining means have been designed to withstandtension loads equal to 750 pounds per inch, in which case the pegs 24were constructed of hard wood dowels having `a diameter of S; inch.Under the above conditions, when the present invention is utilized inassociation with the proper construction of the marginal edge portion 14so as to j dissipate the localized stresses as aforesaid, actual testshave shown that A; inch hard wood dowels will fail before the fabric issubjected to such loading as will tear or rip the same.

At the same time it will be readily appreciated that should a peg 24 beydarn-aged or broken it is a simple matter to remove the vfasteningmeans 30 and to insert a new peg. This type of operation is easilyperformed in the iield and constitutes a further advantage of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simple means of obtaining a good seal along thejoint. This tsea'l takes the form of a flexible strip of material 40`which is permanently secured, as by bonding, stitching or the like,along one edge 44 thereof -to one panel 22, the other edge 43 of thestrip being detachably secured by suitable fasteners 42, preferably snaplfasteners, Iand is adapted to overlie the joint substantially as shown.

In accordance with the present invention, it will be seen that rapidityin both attachment and detachment is of primary concern, withoutsacricing the uniform tension load-transfer between panels or sections.FIG. 2 ill-ustna-tes how the sections are easily joined with greatrapidity. The problem of detachment is actually more simple inasmuch asseveral pegs may be sequentially disengaged -without moving the point ofgripping of the hands on the section. This is accomplished by firstgripping the two sections near the end of -the joined seam and thenmanipulating the wrists 'and hands in relatively opposite directionswhile maintaining the fabric in tension by gradually separating thehands as successive pegs are released. This is repeated along the lengthof the seam.

4Further in regard to this, it will be appreciated that structure withwhich this invention may be associated me normally quite large so thatthe cumulative length of all seams required may be surprisinglysubstantial. Purely as an example, present air-inflated structures mayencompass a span of 60 Ifeet and have a length of 100 feet. Clearly,such a structure, of necessity incorporating several panels or sections,will realize substantial time saving both in erection and disassembly bymeans of the fastening technique according -to this invention.

At the same time, it will be appreciated that the fastening meansaccording to the present invention is not in all respects representsmeans relatively impervious to' Weather conditions in its operation andmanipulation.

What is claimed is:

1. The combi-nation, in a tensioned-fabric, load-sustaining buildingstructure including lat least a pair of separate flexible sectionsadapted to be quickly joined to cumulatively form an integralload-sustaining portion, of means for effecting the quick attachment anddetachment of such sections, the two sections having mating marginaledge portions, said means comprising a ,series of spaced, rectangularplan view loops formed along each marginal edge in which the spacingbetween adjacent loops is at least as great as the width of lanindividual loop, a rigid peg positioned transversely within the free endof each loop and being xed thereto, each peg being of a lengthgreaterthan the width of the loop so that the opposite ends extendtherebeyond `for interdi-gi-tation of the pegs of one Isection with thepegs of the other section.

2. In a tensioned-fa'bric, load-sustaining building structure, la pairof ilexible panel sections having mating edge portions, each such edgeportions presenting a continulous series of spaced, rectangular planview loops therealong deiining intervening notches, the width of eachloop, between adjacent notches, being less than the width of the notchesyand the loops of the two edge-portions being interdigitated with eachother, a rigid peg captive in the free end of each loop, and each pegbeing of a length to extend beyond the `opposite sides of its associatedloop to overlap and lie behind peg-lilled loops of the -other sectionimmediately thereadjacent.

3. In a tensioned-fabric, load-sustaining building structure, a pair lofflexible panel sections having mating edge portions, each such edgeportion presenting "a continuous series of spaced loops therealongdelining intervening notches, the width of each loop, between adjacentnotches, being less tha-n the width of the notches and the loops yof thetwo edge portions being interdi-gitated with each other, a peg captivein each loop, and each peg being of a rigid length to extend beyond theopposite sides of its associated loop -to overlap and lie behindpeg-lilled loops of ythe other section immediately thereadjacent, thediameter of each loop being such that said opposite ends of eachassociated peg lie closely adjacent the edges of the adjacent notches.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 593,721Hoirnan Nov. 16, 1897 2,406,123 Zalki-nd Allg. 20, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS50,583 France Jan. l5, 1941 1,180,001 France lune 1, 1959` 96,791Germany Apr. 5, 1898

1. THE COMBINATION, IN A TENSIONED-FABRIC, LOAD-SUSTAINING BUILDINGSTRUCTURE INCLUDING AT LEAST A PAIR OF SEPARATE FLEXIBLE SECTIONSADAPTED TO BE QUICKLY JOINED TO CUMULATIVELY FORM AN INTEGRALLOAD-SUSTAINING PORTION OF MEANS FOR EFFECTING THE QUICK ATTACHMENT ANDDETACHMENT OF SUCH SECTIONS, THE TWO SECTIONS HAVING MATING MARGINALEDGE PORTIONS, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A SERIES OF SPACED, RECTANGULARPLAN VIEW LOOPS FORMED ALONG EACH